The Menokin Exhibition and Conservation Center The Conservation and Interpretation of a National Historic Landmark to Create a Cultural and Educational Center Warsaw, Virginia, United States
The Menokin project’s concept proposes the delicate stabilization, preservation, and interpretation of the Menokin House; (a National historic Landmark built in c. 1769), its ancillary buildings and landscape, while featuring the delicate marriage of the “old” and “new”, maintaining their distinct characters and language, and establishing a necessary formal, environmental, and structural interdependence between the two. The following summarize the primary overarching design parameters set forth: 1.
Reinstatement of Architectural Integrity in the Landscape: The reinstatement of the original Neo-Palladian arrangement of the House and its Dependencies.
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Strategic Rehabilitation: The interdependent relationship between the proposed Liner and the existing historic fabric, both structurally and visually allows for a highly efficient and innovative approach to restoration and rehabilitation. New materials complement the historic fabric of the House, clearly showcasing both original and contemporary construction systems and illustrating innovative conservation technology.
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Provisions of Diverse and Flexible Space: The proposed diverse spatial qualities create opportunities for different exhibitions and interpretation opportunities.
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Unity and Continuity: The Liner’s gradient from opaque-to-transparent glass is a unifying visual element that supports all of the above parameters by allowing for a continuous reading of the house in response to the site and the historical fabric and its multiple uses as an exhibition space [i.e. changing exhibitions, tours, installations, special events, etc].
The following pages within this section, are but a short synopsis of the aforementioned principles in greater depth, as well as a detailed description of the building components and technological evolution.
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1 Reinstatement of Architectural Integrity in the Landscape: The reinstatement of the original Neo-Palladian arrangement of the House and its Dependencies.
Chesapeake Bay Potomac
River
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The Northern Neck The Northern Neck is a 61-mile peninsula surrounded by the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Originally settled by members of eight Algonquian tribes, it was scouted in the early 17th century by Captain John Smith, the English explorer, and eventually settled by planters whose impressive estates were, for the majority, dedicated to the cultivation and export of tobacco.
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Stratford Hall
Colonel Thomas Lee Plantation (1725)
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Mount Air y
Colonel John Tayloe Plantation (1758-62)
3 Menokin Original House of Francis Lightfoot Lee (c. 1769)
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Speculative historic arrangement of the Main House and its Dependencies.
North elevation view of the proposed Menokin House design, which reestablishes the holistic Neo-Palladian arrangement of buildings on the site: the Main house located centrally is flanked by the Office and Kitchen Dependencies. (Right page: A night view of the proposed house design.)
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2 Strategic Rehabilitation: The interdependent relationship between the proposed Liner and the existing historic fabric, both structurally and visually allows for a highly efficient and innovative approach to restoration and rehabilitation. New materials complement the historic fabric of the House, clearly showcasing both original and contemporary construction systems and illustrating innovative conservation technology.
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GLASS ROOF BEAM & GLASS RAINSCREEN
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CUSTOM FOLDED STEEL WINDOW BOx, CANTILEVERED
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GLASS RAINSCREEN
Cast Molding of Archaeological Artifacts
STAINLESS STEEL RESTRAIN STRUT ORIGINAL WINDOW STONE SURROUND GLASS MOISTURE BARRIER, CUSTOM FINISH STEEL ARMATURE GLASS INTERIOR LAyER, CUSTOM FINISH RECONSTRUCTED MASONRy [WATER TABLE] STEEL ARMATURE BASE BEAM BEARING ON WATER TABLE LEDGE
6 THE LINER In the absence of most of the original perimeter walls, the “Liner” is conceived of as the physical embodiment of the main house’s interior space -- strategically reestablishing the house’s interior volume -- not unlike the casting of a mold in archaeological practices.
House. 1992-1994 (Rachel Whiteread)
Dovecote Studio (Haworth Tompkins) Snape, Suffolk, UK
Greek Urn Restoration
7 RESTORATION APPROACH The remaining masonry wall elements and water table will be restored in-situ, stabilizing the historic remains while providing adequate structural support for the proposed Liner and Rainscreen. The resulting scheme avoids the pitfalls of total reconstruction and provides visitors with a clear sense of the building’s history.
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Astley Castle (Witherford Watson Mann Architects) Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK
6a 6b 6c Cross Ventilation Custom perforations in the vertical members of the steel armature allows for cross ventilation within the actively ventilated air cavity of the Liner.
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6b THE ARMATURE The fully welded steel armature is reinforced by placing horizontal beams between vertical elements that embrace the interior perimeter of the remaining walls of the main house. The armature, in juxtaposition to historical fabric, conceptually enhances the poetic dimension of collapse and current state of ruin.
The Cage Crinoline c. 1850
La Centrale (Bernard Khoury) Beirut, Lebanon
THE LINER
5 THE GLASS RAINSCREEN A custom glass façade system, supported and hung from the roof eaves and laterally constrained by struts that tie back to the Liner’s armature. As an active archeological site, the glass gives contrast with the stone structures of the historical ruins and seeks to both highlight the original structure and the contemporary liner.
Hedmark Cathedral Museum (Sverre Fehn) Hamar Norway
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9 FLOATING STAIRS A rung of stairs will be constructed on the top of the old existing stairs, which are situated at ground level entrances on the North, West and South faces of the Main House.
Photograph of Menokin, 2012
Sant Pere de Roda Monastery Museum (JAMLET) Girona, Spain
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North elevation perspective view of the proposed Menokin House Concept Design (Day Time)
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North elevation perspective view of the proposed Menokin House Concept Design (Night Time)
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3 Provisions of Diverse and Flexible Space: The proposed diverse spatial qualities create opportunities for different exhibitions and interpretation opportunities.
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HISTORIC HOUSE PROGRAM
CONCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION OF INTERIOR SPACES The house will be an ongoing research project and exhibit space that will incorporate original historic materials to illustrate 18th century craftsmanship, as well as new materials to complement historic fabric. The story of Menokin from 1769 to the active present will be told through an architectural narrative that unfolds from a more traditional/historical exhibition approach in the northeast corner (the Study) to a more flexible and interpretive exhibition approach towards the west side of the house [within the north and south Chambers and second level area].
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ORIGINAL HISTORIC FABRIC IN-SITU
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PROPOSED ExHIBITION SPACES 1
Catwalk Gallery
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Interpretive Exhibition Space
interior partition remains
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Dining Room Exhibit Space
wine cellar vault barrel
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Cellar Storage Room
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Wine Cellar
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SW Chamber Exhibit Space
Storage
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Cellar Circulation Hall
Attic
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Entrance & Stair Hall
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NE Gallery
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Entrance/Stair Hall
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Study
2 wood floor Joists
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Dining Room
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Chamber
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Stair Hall
5 fireplace masonry
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Wine Cellar
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ATTIC LEVEL
roof truss / wood floor joists
masonry base element
ATTIC LEVEL
ATTIC LEVEL
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SECOND LEVEL
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SECOND LEVEL
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GROUND LEVEL
GROUND LEVEL
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GROUND LEVEL
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7 BASEMENT LEVEL
BASEMENT LEVEL
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BASEMENT LEVEL
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SECTION A-A Proposed House
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2nd Flr LVL
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SECTION B-B Proposed House
Ground LVL
1 Catwalk Gallery
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2 Interpretive Exhibition Space 3 Dining Room Exhibit Space 4 Cellar Storage Room 5 Wine Cellar
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6 SW Chamber Exhibit Space 7 Cellar Circulation Hall 8 Entrance & Stair Hall 9 NE Gallery 5
1 Entrance & Stair Hall
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2 Dining Room
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3 SW Chamber Room Above Historic Wine Cellar
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View to SW Chamber Room and Temporary Gallery from Glass Catwalk
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4 Unity and Continuity: The Liner’s gradient from opaque-to-transparent glass is a unifying visual element that supports all of the above parameters by allowing for a continuous reading of the house in response to the site and the historical fabric and its multiple uses as an exhibition space [i.e. changing exhibitions, tours, installations, special events, etc].
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Existing Condition & Strategic Reconstruction: Since its collapse in 1968, the house has been in a precarious condition, and the foundation’s attempts to stabilize and protect what remains have been only temporarily successful, as day-today exposure to the elements undermine these efforts.
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THE HISTORIC MENOKIN HOUSE
REINSTATEMENT OF ExISTING HISTORIC HOUSE FABRIC
Glass House Concept Design: The house, in its collapsed and supported state, reveals an 18th century building technology that is unprecedented in a colonial house museum in the Northern Neck. The glass Liner and Rainscreen showcases and preserves this technology while. at the same time, it reinstates the formal reading of the house’s original enclosure.
THE LINER
Top: NW Aerial View of the Proposed Menokin House. Bottom: An east-west section of the Main House looking south to the Rappahannock River; the glass rain screen protects the ruins from the elements; while the inner liner (as shown in this north-looking aerial) establishes a dialogue to the landscape by opening up a clear view shed to the Rappahannock River, overlooking the historic “terraced” landscape. THE RAINSCREEN
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Southwest Aerial view of the proposed Menokin House and adjacent Dependencies, overlooking the Garden Terraces. [Right Page: Equivalent night view.]
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